I just love love LOVE Fast Track by China Glaze. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this pinky-nude at first, but the micro gold glitter just makes my little heart sing. I paired this lovely light nude with I Need a Refresh-Mint by Wet n Wild for a fun refreshing minty-french tip.

Sailor Stripes Fade

I was inspired by the blog Polish You Pretty for this one. I added more stripes to my manicure to better show off the fade under the black stripes. I got many MANY compliments on this manicure. I plan to make this my first nail-art video tutorial! Products I used, in order: 02 Whirlwind White by Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, 340 Mint Sorbet by Sally HansenXtreme Wear, 947 Mint Apple by Sinful Colors, NL N14 Fly, Nikki Minaj collection by OPI, and 242A Black Cream by Wet n Wild.

Spider Man…Spider Man..does whatever a spider can…

Just picked up the main color in this mani from the Spiderman Collection by OPI. It’s called Just Spotted the Lizard and is a crazy metallic Gold/Green/Teal/Copper. I can’t believe I almost passed this one up! The accent finger is Orly’s Galaxy Girl, it’s a duo-chrome holo glitter that flashes from a rich plum to a blue-teal.

Oi! I’ve been so so so so busy lately!! And the summer shows no promise of slowing down for me until like July…and then only for a week or two! I guess I should be pretty grateful for being kept so busy.

Anywho…So has anyone else seen the new Border Nails trend? When I first saw a vlog/tutorial on it, I didn’t care for it much. The second one I saw, I liked a little bit better, and actually used that one on my own nails…but I’m still not sure if I actually like it. Maybe I haven’t found the right color combo?

Here’s what I’ve done thus far…

Border Art, Attempt 1

Here is the number one attempt…Red with a silver mini border around black…eeeeeh….I don’t know…The accent nail is silver with a black mini border around red. I’m not sure if it’s the color combo, if the silver was too bright and metallic, or if it was just the red that was bugging me. The manicure looked nice, it just wasn’t me. Red is Poinsettia from China Glaze Black is Lubu Heels from China Glaze, and the silver’s name escapes me. It’s from Sally Hansen’s X-Treme line.

Border Art Attempt 2

So attempt 1 bugged me so much, I had to re-do it. I took out the mini border, and found a darker silver by OPI. I liked this a little bit more…I think around this point I decided it was the red that was bothering me. I’m just not a red polish type of gal.

Border Nails Attempt 3

I like this way more then the first two attempts, but I’m still not happy with it. Final conclusion is I just don’t think this new trend is for me. It’s very boxy and mod, and while it’s EXTREMELY easy nail art to do, it’s just NOT me. (Easy nail art- Paint entire nail. Take brush, paint in the middle part by doing 1 or 2 strokes of the middle color. Boom. Done.)

I am however digging the colors I used for Attempt 3. Both are from Wet n Wild’s newest Megalast collection, and might I say, I’m highly impressed! Both are dupes for China Glaze colors, both I love and both I don’t own myself! Ha!

The colors I used were I Need a Refresh-Mint and Wet Cement. Both cost me a whole $1.23 each…well…when you count the coupons I used, they each cost me 23 cents. SCORE!!! You can find the coupon in this week’s junk mail that came out on Tuesday.

I Need a Refresh-Mint is a dupe for China Glaze’s For Audrey. It’s a pretty Tiffany Blue. I’d been on the fence about getting For Audrey for some time now, I own a ton of teals and sea-foam colors, but for 23 cents? Yes, I was going to get this polish.

Wet Cement is a dupe for China Glaze’s Foie Gras from the Hunger Games collection…of which I LOVE. It’s a brown-toned grey color, and while it doesn’t sound appealing, it’s very sophisticated and mature, but still has an edgy attitude.

I really like these polishes, they go on smooth, and the brush is nice. They’re rich but not thick, and the color pay off is awesome. For the $1.23 price tag (prices vary, I got mine at Marc’s) they are completely worth it…however I wasn’t impressed with the colors offered in the line as a whole. It may have just been the store I was at, but they didn’t offer a large array of colors. I’m hoping that changes in the future, or I find a better selection at another store.

I just can’t get enough of it, and I don’t want to clean my face with anything else anymore…oh may the Gods help me! (I use Love Lettuce and Aqua Mirage for those curious.)

I noticed however that the scent of the bathbombs are strong, and long lasting. Which got me thinking…what else could I use them for…hmm…

Experiment 1-

Drawer Sachets.

How old school is this idea? Did anyone else ever put soap or bath salts into little fabric baggies and stick them in their drawers? Was it just me…? I used to do this all the time when I was little, made me feel oh so very grown up with my scented panties and training bras.

Now, the sales girl at lush told me that the baggies they sell the bombs in hold the scent, and that she rips up her bags and stuffs them into her drawers. I tried this, and found it doesn’t really work all that well. A better thing to do would be to buy a bath bomb and go to your local craft store. Usually in the wedding section, they have little draw string baggies for things like mints or almonds. They’re pretty cheap, OR you could make your own.

Cut your bath bomb into quarters, then cut the quarters into halves, place the sections into your baggies and toss them into your drawers or luggage. I did the luggage on a recent flight to Denver, and it saved me from having to bring perfume. My clothes smelled delightful, and the bath bomb scent clings to everything.

I happen to also keep a whole bomb in my closet in an open paper bag. It scents my entire room.

Experiment 2-

Air Freshener-Method A

This idea came to me after the first time I used one of the bath bombs…I noticed my entire house smelled like Phoenix Rising…

About 6 months ago I got a gift basket from the lovely ladies of Visions of the Nile, and in it was this little contraption called a Scent Bug…apparently from Bath and Body Works…I’ve got the black one.

Scent Bug from bath and body works.Photo from amethystanderson.com

I don’t go into Bath and Body Works very often (to be honest, the last time I was in one was the outlet at Lodi and that was about a year ago!), so I was clueless to the existence of these little buggers (pun not intended!). Anywho, they come with these little cotton like pads that reminded me of makeup pads. You put essential oils on the pad, turn the bug on, and the fan blows across the pad spreading the fragrance through the room. So that got me thinking…

Take a container and half a cup of water. Plop a small chunk of your bathbomb of choice into the water. BE SURE you’ve used a large enough container to keep any foam in…or better yet do this over the sink!

Give the water a stir if the foam is going crazy, and it should help settle it down. Once the foam has dissolved, you should have a heavily colored heavily scented pool of water. Dip your scent pad into the water then shake it a bit so it’s not dripping.

Plop that bugger into your Scent Bug and you’re good to go!

Store the scented water someplace room temp and be sure it’s sealed. I keep mine in a little jar.

Remember the less water you use, the higher the concentration of the fragrance, which I recommend. My first attempt at this yielded a mild scent because I used too much water. If the water is gritty, that’s fine.

If you find you’ve used too much water, just let it sit out and the water will evaporate leaving a more concentrated bath bomb goo left.

Air Freshener-Method B

This one is VERY simple, and I can’t take credit for the idea.

You can check out sayanythingbrooke’s video right here…

But…all you do is hack into that bathbomb, cut it in half, get a vaporizer/humidifier, fill per instructions, plug in, then toss in the bathbomb.

Tada! Of course…Who knows how it’ll effect your vaporizer/humidifier in the long run…but eh.

Experiment 4-

Potpourri

This is sort of self explanatory…

Get a bowl, and put your bath bombs into it. They’re so pretty, and super fun looking if you chop them open. Some are even lovely ground up. I can vouch for Phoenix Rising. Seriously, check it out…

When you hack it open, it’s this beautiful sea foam color inside, and it gets this lovely gold shimmer over it’s surface. It’s super pretty as a dust, and looks fabulous.

Experiment 5-

Soap.

Oh yea. You heard me right. Soap!

Yes, I know Lush makes some really seriously amazing soaps…but they don’t have one in my beloved Phoenix Rising scent…Lush…you should make soaps for your bath bombs…my kitchen would thank you.

Some people don’t have tubs after all…and some people don’t want to sit in a tub all the time.

This one takes a little bit of time, but it’s very easy to do.

You will need…

1. Old Pot

2. Soap Base found at any craft store. I used an Olive Oil based soap.

3. Big Ass Knife

4. Cutting Board

5. A Stove

6. Soap Molds found at any craft store, or get creative and recycle. It just has to be something you can use about the size of a bar of soap that won’t melt. I just poured mine into the container my soap base came in, then cut it into bars from there.

7. Fork or Whisk. A whisk will work better, but is harder to clean.

8. Bath bomb of your choice.

Soap of Choice

First you’re going to want to cut your block of soap into sections. I used half of my package and cut it into 6 pieces before tossing them into the pot. Turn the heat on Med-High and let the soap start to melt. Keep an eye on it, and stir it often as it can and will burn. (Or…follow the directions on your soap.)

While your soap is heating up, take your bath bomb and carefully cut it into quarters. You’ll want to use half to a quarter of the bomb per half hunk of soap. Remember, the more you add the stronger your scent is going to be…but also remember…the more you add the more foam you’re going to have!!

Chopped/Crushed Phoenix Rising

Start chopping up your selected amount of bath bomb. You’re going to want to get it into as fine of a powder as possible. I used a knife for this (I have awesome ceramic ones) but you can use the hammer and plastic baggie method, or if you’re feeling real daring, put it into a grinder/blender…I can’t vouch for how well that’ll work though…or if your blender will survive it.

Once you have a semi-fine powder and the soap is in liquid form make sure your mold is out and ready..and be EXTRA sure that fork and/or whisk are in your free hand.

Take the powdered bath bomb, and slowly add it to the soap…at first nothing will happen…then all of a sudden it’ll start foaming like mad raccoon with rabies. Whisk!! Whisk!! Whisk!!! (I did this over the sink.) If you thought they foamed a lot in water, holy Gods…they foam about a hundred times worse in liquified molten soap!

Don’t stop to take a picture of the foam like I did…

When the foam is gone, which is going to take some arm work, pour the soap into it’s mold and let it sit until it’s hardened. Depending on the depth of the mold, this could take as little as an hour or as much as 24 hours.

Foamy Cooling Soap

Pop it out when it’s hard, and enjoy!

All done!

Everything is washable, it’s soap after all. It can be a pain however (which is why I suggest using an old pot). Remember to use hot water, and don’t let the hot-foam or liquified soap go down the drain as it could cause a clog when it cools. If that happens you’ll have to run your hot water for awhile…or call a plumber.

Hope this gave people some fun ideas on how to get the most out of Lush’s awesome bath bombs!!